


Just a Kiss

by BeccaAnne814



Series: Tony Stark x Reader Oneshots [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:19:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16664977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaAnne814/pseuds/BeccaAnne814
Summary: You notice that when Tony is overworked and exhausted, his sentimental side starts to shine through the cracks in his self-imposed shell. Since you’ve been secretly longing for the genius playboy billionaire philanthropist, you decide to take advantage of your newfound knowledge to see if he, perhaps, shares your feelings. Based on Lady Antebellum’sJust a Kiss.





	Just a Kiss

"And that's what really happened in Budapest?" YN asked Nat with an incredulous look on her face as she carefully sat her mug of coffee on the counter so as not to spill it.

"Yep," Nat said with a grin and wink before taking a sip of her latte.

YN started to quietly chuckle. "All this time, and that's it?"

"Sometimes a mystery is better than reality," Nat mused with a shrug. 

YN picked up her coffee mug and held it with one hand while she made an X over her heart with the other. "Well, you don't have to worry about me telling anyone your secret."

"What secret?" Tony asked as he shuffled into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee pot.

Nat gave the lanky brunet a quick once-over. "You look like hell. When was the last time you slept?"

Tony finished pouring his coffee and then lifted the hem of his shirt to his nose for a quick sniff. With a grimace and a quick shake of his head, he turned back to Nat. "Few days at least."

"Tony," YN chided, her voice full of concern. "You really need to get some sleep. I'm sure whatever problem you're working on can wait a few more hours."

"YN's right," Nat agreed as she rose from her stool at the breakfast bar to grab the cup of coffee out of Tony's hand.

Tony didn't put up as much of a fight as YN figured he would have. She was further shocked when he leaned over and placed a light kiss on the top of Nat's head.

"You're probably right," Tony agreed uncharacteristically as he headed out of the kitchen quietly talking to himself. "FRIDAY's running those numbers. It'll probably be at least an hour. I got time."

Once Tony was out of sight, YN turned on Nat. "What was that?"

Nat narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What? Tony walking around like a zombie from lack of sleep?"

"No, I meant the kiss."

"What kiss?"

YN rolled her eyes. "Tony kissed the top of your head."

Nat gave YN a wave of dismissal. "That was nothing—it's just something Tony does when he's tired."

"You mean to tell me that Tony Stark kisses people when he's sleepy. What, is he some type of reverse Sleeping Beauty?"

Nat burst out laughing as she grabbed her empty mug and took it to the sink to rinse it out. "I've never thought of it that way, but I guess it's fitting since this is technically still his Tower."

YN didn't say anything else, but once Nat had left the kitchen she couldn't stop her mind from replaying every moment she'd ever spent in Tony's company. She'd been with the Avengers for about six months, and she'd watched in dismay as Tony pushed himself to the limits—both physically and mentally—for the team, but she'd never witnessed anything like what she'd seen this morning between him and Nat. She mused that perhaps he only acted that way toward people he was extremely comfortable with. 

In the past six months the two of them had barely spoken more than a few words to one another at a time, and that was usually during a mission briefing. It wasn't for lack of wanting on her part, but she wasn't about to push her ever-growing feelings on a man who didn't seem at all interested in her as more than a colleague. At this point, she wasn't even sure he wanted to be her friend. YN had subtly tried to engage Tony on more than one occasion, but he always seemed to be in his lab working on some project, or too busy living it up at one of his famous parties.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, YN rose from her stool and made her way to the sink. Tony was extremely particular about keeping the common areas clean, so she rinsed out her mug and then placed both hers and Nat's into the dishwasher.

Turning around, she leaned against the counter and took a good look around the large open space where most of the team spent their downtime. Thanksgiving was the following day and Tony had already planned an elaborate feast for the ones that wanted to stay in the city for the holidays. She wasn't usually one to decorate for Christmas until after the leftover turkey had all been eaten, but she thought it might add a little cheer to the room.

"FRIDAY?" YN asked as she gazed up toward the ceiling.

"Yes, Agent YLN?" the AI answered immediately.

"Where are the Christmas decorations?"

 

After digging through a dozen boxes of decorations, YN formulated a plan. She knew she could ask Nat—or any of the other Avengers—to help her out, but she wanted to do this on her own. Trying to plan a surprise for a group of people that didn't exactly keep a nine-to-five schedule wasn't an easy task, but she thought she had a good chance of getting all the decorations up and ready if she waited until just after midnight to start. She'd be exhausted Thanksgiving day, but it would be worth it to bring a smile to the faces of her friends.

Shutting the door of the storage room behind her, she started walking without consciously thinking about her destination. When she ended up outside the wall of glass that enclosed Tony's workshop, she wasn't the least bit surprised—she tended to gravitate toward the man even when she wasn't actively thinking about him.

When she saw him standing at one of his workstations manipulating a glowing three-dimensional hologram in front of him, she wasn't the least bit surprised. He didn't look as though he'd taken her and Nat's advice to grab a few hours of sleep, and she wondered what had distracted him from heading straight to his bed.

It wasn't until she saw Peter pop out from behind what appeared to be a scaled-down version of the Iron Man suit with a screwdriver that she realized what had happened. Shaking her head, she opened the door and made her way toward the two geniuses.

"Whatcha working on?" she asked with a smile that she prayed didn't make her look like a love sick teenager.

"Oh, hi, Agent YLN," Peter said as a blush started to creep up from beneath the collar of his shirt.

"It's YN," she reminded the boy. She couldn't be sure, but she suspected he'd developed a small crush on her. Too bad he seemed to be the only person in the room that found her attractive.

Peter shrugged and dropped his head bashfully. "Sorry. Hi, YN."

She squeezed his shoulder before turning to Tony. "I thought you were going to get some sleep?"

Tony spared her a glance before gesturing toward Peter and turning back to his work. "The kid showed up and offered to help."

"I'm sure he would've been more than capable of doing whatever you needed while you grabbed a few hours of sleep."

She saw Peter's blush increase as he ducked his head again and turned away from her. Yep, she was almost positive he had a crush on her.

"We're almost finished," Tony explained as he studied the holographic blueprints of the new suit in front of him. He started rattling off a series of instructions to Peter that she couldn't make heads or tails of, but Peter seemed to understand every word he said. 

She was just about to insist that he take a break when she heard Peter let out a whoop.

"That's it. I'm sure of it," Peter said with a huge smile. 

"I think you're right," Tony said as he studied a line of code on the computer monitor in front of him. 

YN started to ask what they were working on again when Peter came up beside Tony to check his work. Without a word, Tony placed his hands on either side of Peter's cheeks and gave him a noisy kiss on the forehead. 

Peter seemed more shocked than she as he turned toward her with a wide-eyed stare. Stifling a giggle, she gave the dumbfounded boy a shrug before laying a hand on Tony's shoulder.

Adopting her best mom voice, she said, "Okay, you've solved your problem. Time for some sleep."

Peter glanced down at his watch. "I've actually got to go, Mr. Stark. I promised May I'd watch a movie with her tonight."

"You two still coming over for dinner tomorrow?" Tony asked as he unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn.

"Absolutely. May is really excited to see the inside of this place."

Tony clapped him on the shoulder and told him he'd see him tomorrow. Peter gave YN a quick wave before saying goodbye and grabbing his book bag on his way out the door. 

Before she could say a word, Tony help up both hands in surrender. "I'm going to bed."

"You promise?"

He narrowed his eyes and gave her an appraising look. "Why do you care so much?"

Lifting one shoulder in a flippant shrug she said the first thing that popped into her mind. "I don't want you passing out in the middle of pumpkin pie tomorrow and ruining dessert for the rest of us."

"Touché," he said with a quiet laugh. "Okay, okay, I'll go get some sleep."

YN walked with him toward the elevator and rode with him to his floor. He got off and turned to give her a mock salute.

Just as the doors were about to close, she reached out and laid a hand against one side to stop them. "I really appreciate all the work you put in for this team. I don't think we say it enough, but thank you."

A look came over Tony's face that YN couldn't quite decipher, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

"I don't do it for the praise," he told her as he let out a sigh. "But it's nice to hear every now and then."

"Sleep well," she told him as she moved her hand and let the doors close between them.

 

Waking up at midnight and sneaking through the Tower made YN feel like a child on Christmas morning again. It had been a long time since she'd felt the joy of the holidays, and even though she longed to be back in her cozy, warm bed, she was glad she'd decided to organize this surprise for her friends.

Grabbing a couple of Tony's rolling carts from his lab, she headed toward the storage room and started loading up boxes. She'd snuck out the previous evening and bought a real tree from a lot a few blocks down from the Tower. Sneaking it in without getting caught was more nerve wracking than any mission she'd been on since joining the team. She'd almost gotten caught by Steve when she'd gotten off the elevator, but thankfully Sam had been looking for him and the two of them left before they could see what she'd been hiding just a few feet away from them. 

She hoped the team appreciated the effort it took to haul a six foot spruce through the crowded streets of the city. It wasn't so much the weight and awkwardness of the tree itself, but the sap that had proved to be her nemesis. She was pretty sure she was going to carry the faint smell of pine on her skin for the next month or two, and she wasn't sure she'd ever get all of the sap out of her hair.

Once all the decorations were in the common room, she got to work. She had FRIDAY playing Christmas music through her wireless headphones, and the upbeat tempos of Straight No Chaser had her dancing around the tree as she strung lights and meticulously placed the ornaments to hide all the imperfections and bare spots.

It had taken her almost four hours to turn the common room into a winter wonderland, but once she'd draped the last strand of garland on the mantle over the fireplace and added a few candles and assorted Christmas bric-à-brac, she took a step back and assessed her work. 

The warm glow of miniature lights on the tree and in the garland gave the common room a homey feel that only Christmas decorations could bring. Feeling proud of herself, she began to stack the empty boxes back on the carts to take back to the storage room. 

As she picked up the last box, she noticed something half hidden under bottom flap. Carefully tugging it free, she held it up as a slow smile spread across her face.

Mistletoe.

Spinning around in a slow circle, she eyed the ceiling and door lintels for the best location to hang it. In the end, she chose the spot above the entrance of the kitchen since it would see more cross traffic than any other spot in the room. She was sure watching various superheroes being forced to kiss one another for the next month would prove to be the highlight of the Christmas season. 

Not thinking she'd needed one, she hadn't brought a step ladder with her. Improvising, she pulled one of the stools from the breakfast bar over and carefully climbed on top of it using one hand since the other held the sprig of mistletoe and the staple gun. 

It wasn't until she was already too invested to quit that see realized she'd underestimated the height of the ceiling. Rising to her tiptoes like a prima ballerina, she did her best to balance herself as she stretched to her full height to staple the mistletoe in place.

Just as she'd finished, she felt a pair of hands grasp her hips and she let out a little scream. She dropped the staple gun and it clattered to the ground as the stool began to teeter beneath her feet. She looked down and saw that it was Tony that a hold on her. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she let him slowly lower her back to the ground.

Every square inch of her body slid against his and she could feel heat begin to spread throughout her. This was the closest she'd ever been to him, and her senses were reeling. The warmth of his hands on her hips had flames of desire settling low in her belly, and the scent of him was making her head swim. The way his whisky colored eyes were boring into hers had chills spreading over her flushed skin which was a sensation she'd never felt before, but one she was slowly learning to love. She was painfully aware of each breath she took since it felt as though drawing air into her lungs was too great of an effort for her to manage at that particular moment.

His lips began to move, and for a moment she thought she'd gone deaf until she remembered the wireless headphones. The frantic pounding of her heart had drowned out the music, but in the state she was in, she was certain she wouldn't have been able to hear it anyway. Reluctantly, she let go of his shoulders to pluck the buds from her ears and lay them on the breakfast bar beside her. Since he didn't seem to be in a hurry to let her go, and she didn't have a lot of options, she rested her hands back on his shoulders.

"Did you do all this by yourself?" Tony asked.

Still breathless from being so close to him, she struggled to find the air she needed to answer him. "It was nothing."

With his hands still resting firmly on her hips, he glanced over his shoulder at the beautifully decorated room behind him. Turning back to meet her gaze, he gave her a small smile. "It's perfect."

The way he took a breath after he spoke made her think there was something else he wanted to say, but with a sigh, he pressed his lips into a hard line and looked up at he ceiling. When he saw why she'd been standing on the stool, he glanced back at her with a devious look in his tired eyes.

"Did you get any sleep?" she asked before he could make a snide comment about her choice of decorations.

He dropped his head and let out a frustrated breath. "Why are you so worried about my sleep habits?"

She lifted hand and used her index finger to lift his chin. She waited until he opened his eyes again to meet her worried gaze before she answered him. "Because you work too hard, and I. . .um, I mean we. . .we worry about you."

He gave her a look that let her know he wasn't buying her excuse one bit, and for a moment she thought he might call her out. She let out a relived sigh when he instead focused his gaze on the wall of windows overlooking the city. 

"Full moon tonight," he observed absentmindedly. "Moonlight always makes the city look..." He paused as he searched for the right word. 

"Magical?"

"Yeah," he agreed with a nod. 

He focused his gaze on hers again. "I don't tell you enough, but I'm glad you're on the team."

That was not what she'd been expecting him to say, and her expression must have given away her surprise. Not missing a beat, he began to clarify. 

"Sometimes we get busy. You know, saving the world and all. You've been as asset to the team the past few months. And it's Thanksgiving, so thanks."

A smile started to spread across her face. He was rambling from what she assumed was lack of sleep and she found it oddly adorable. 

Before she could formulate a reply, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss in the cheek before letting her go and abruptly turning to leave. As he rushed from the room, her hand instinctively went to her face to touch the spot where his lips had just been. 

He felt like an idiot. All of his hard work had just been flushed down the drain. Ironically, she'd been the one to try to force him to get some sleep, and it was the lack of sleep that has caused him to screw up so spectacularly with her a few moments ago. 

Taking a deep breath, he glanced over his shoulder to see if she was glaring at him like he'd thought she'd be. She wasn't. In fact, it looked at though his impromptu show of affection had had the opposite effect. 

He tried to talk himself out of it—he really did. He'd chalk it up to sleep deprivation later that day, but in this moment he only wanted one thing, and he was pretty sure she wanted it as much as he did. 

Crossing the room in record time, he pulled her back into his arms. "You're the one that hung the mistletoe."

"Guilty," she whispered as she framed his face with her hands and kissed him the way she'd dreamt of for months. 

It felt like a dream, and for a moment she wondered if she'd actually fallen off the stool and this was just some vivid hallucination her concussed mind had conjured up. As the kiss turned into something more heated, she couldn't deny the reality of the situation. 

Much too soon for either of their liking, they broke apart to appease their body's need for oxygen. With a smile, Tony closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. She could have stayed like that for the rest of her life, but all too soon, he was pulling away from her. She thought he meant to leave, so when he grabbed her hand and nodded toward the doorway, she willingly let him lead her wherever he wished to go. 

When the elevator opened onto the floor with his lab, she was confused. She'd assumed he was taking her to his bedroom, but now she was wondering if she'd misread the entire situation. Feeling a bit like a fool, she slowly began to withdraw into herself.

Tony let go of her hand and moved to one of his work stations. Pulling up the schematics for the suit he'd been working on the previous day with Peter he turned to her and asked. "What do you think?"

She really had no idea what she was looking at, so she answered him with the first thing that popped into her head. "It's nice."

"You don't like it," he said with a dejected sigh.

Even though she was confused at the recent turn of events, she hadn't meant to insult him. "I'm sorry. I'm sure it's a really great suit, but all of your suits are technological marvels."

A light seemed to go off behind his eyes and he quickly turned back to his screen and manipulated a few of the digital elements. As she watched, she saw the familiar outline of a feminine form appear on the screen and embarrassment began to wash over her. It was her, down to every single one of her self-perceived imperfections.

"This one isn't for me," Tony explained once he'd superimposed the suit onto the digital rendering of her.

The enormity of his words hit her with such a force that she forgot the embarrassment she'd been feeling a moment before when she'd realized that he'd digitally mapped out every single curve of her body. The fact that he'd built her a suit—that he'd given up days of sleep to perfect it just for her touched her more than than any other gesture he could've made toward her.

She turned from the schematic in front of her to look at the suit sitting lifeless and empty a few feet away. In a few short strides, she was right in front of it with her hand outstretched hesitantly.

"Go ahead," he said when he saw her draw her hand back.

She was completely speechless, but she did manage to shoot him a smile over her shoulder before she began sliding her hand over the smooth lines of vibranium that he'd created to protect her while she was in the field with him.

"I don't know what to say," she admitted with a laugh. "It's beautiful."

"I was going to wait until it was finished to give it to you," he admitted as he rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. "But then I thought you might like a say in what color to paint it."

She turned back to him and laid her hands along the sides of his neck as her thumbs began slowly gliding over the raspy stubble that had grown in the past few days. She leaned in to kiss him, but he placed his hands over hers and took a small step back.

"I know I didn't exactly give you this impression earlier—and I'm sorry about that—but I'd really like it if we took things a little slow."

"I don't want to mess this thing up," she began.

"Me either," he admitted as he moved closer to her again. "But maybe a just a kiss goodnight."

With a smile spread across her lips, she wrapped her arms around him again and pulled him close to her. When his lips found hers again, she realized that nothing had ever felt so right.


End file.
